Designer Achille Castiglioni Dies

Published 6:00 pm, Wednesday, December 4, 2002

ROME (AP) _ Italian interior designer and architect Achille Castiglioni, who gave new forms to domestic objects like lamps and ashtrays and helped make Italian modern design famous worldwide, has died in Milan. He was 84.

Castiglioni died in his home Monday, his office said. The family did not announce his death until after the funeral, which was held Wednesday.

Born in Milan as the son of a sculptor, Castiglioni graduated in architecture from his hometown's Politecnico university in 1944.

A few years later, he had started working with his elder brothers, Livio and Pier Giacomo, researching and experimenting with new forms in industrial design.

"We worked together, the three of us, until the 1950s: behind each project there would always be confrontation and research," the Corriere della Sera newspaper on Thursday quoted him as saying.

Livio eventually left the studio, but the collaboration between the two remaining brothers continued throughout the following decade, until Pier Giacomo died in 1968.

Some of Castiglioni's most famous items were designed in those years, such as the trademark "Mezzadro" stool, an enameled-metal base topped by a tractor seat, or the "Tojo" lamp, which was made with a car headlight.

Castiglioni also worked on architectural and urban planning commissions, such as organizing trade fairs and exhibitions. But it was his light style in interior design that made him famous worldwide _ and contributed to establishing Italy as a leading country in modern design.

He won the "Golden Compass" award, Italy's top prize in the field, nine times.

In 1997, The Museum of Modern Art in New York held an exhibit dedicated to his work. The museum still houses 14 of his works.

"His design was humorous, a bit pop, with a great touch of lightness," a fellow architect and designer, Ettore Sottsass, told Corriere della Sera.

Castiglioni is survived by his wife, Irma Barni, and his three children, Giovanna, Monica and Carlo. His brother Livio died in 1979.